Emerging from my cave after several months

As some of you may know, I’ve been essentially disconnected from the online world for several months now. After our son’s third stay at the hospital in his first six months of life here, it became clear I needed to focus on him and the rest of my family. Thank the Lord we were sustained during this time. Now it’s time to get back on the saddle.

We’re expecting another child. I always knew I would have to return to this side of life at some point in the near future, but this latest surprise accelerated it to the point that I made the decision this morning. Now, I’m back.

Thank you to the team here at NOQ Report for keeping everything going in my absence. I owe a lot of kudos to many people and apologies to many more. For now, I’m going to get reacquainted with everything, collect my thoughts, and then let the whirlwind start up again. This is going to be fun.

Bongino: Democrats have nowhere to go on the shutdown

The old narrative from Democrats and leftist media was that President Trump was unwilling to negotiate. Senator Chuck Schumer often said the President had a “temper tantrum” every time they’d try to work things out.

This was untrue, of course, but facts weren’t enough to change the narrative, so the President went on national television to lay out his plan on how they can make a deal to open up the government.

Nope. It wasn’t good enough because it still had the “W” word in it. So, now the narrative has switched from “he won’t deal” to “there’s nothing new in the deal.” This is also false.

Dan Bongino went on Fox & Friends this morning to point out where the situation stands. Democrats have backed themselves into a corner, according to Bongino, and the only way out is to address the President’s offer. But they won’t. They’re Democrats.

Related

Embattled Representative Steve King (R-IA) has been dodging accusations and calls for his resignation ever since a NY Times article quoted him asking when “white supremacist” and “white nationalist” became offensive. Following punishment from the House, he is now claiming he was misquoted.

The NY Times reported admits there’s no tape of the conversation and the quote was written based on notes he took. Here’s the quote as it appeared in the article:

“White nationalist, white supremacist, Western civilization — how did that language become offensive? Why did I sit in classes teaching me about the merits of our history and our civilization?”

King is speaking out against House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy.

“Kevin McCarthy knows there is no tape. He talked to the NY Times reporter who said he believed he represented it accurately, so Kevin McCarthy’s taking the word of the NY Times reporter over me,” King said.

He said it’s up to voters to decide whether or not he needs to continue to hold his seat. In recent days, he’s growing more confident that he will win next year’s election despite the controversy.

“Well, of course our phones have been busy and really intense for a long time now, a number of days,” King continued. “But it’s shifted from the early calls on the first day to now it’s overwhelmingly supportive of me.”

The quote, if accurate, is hard to overlook. But if voters are willing to take his word for it that he was misquoted, he may be able to get past this incident and continue his efforts in the House.

Related

Kamala Harris makes 2020 run official

Senator Kamala Harris (D-CA) has announced she will be running for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States. She joines a slew of Democrats who have already announced with plenty more expected to join the race soon.

She joins Julian Castro, John Delaney, Richard Ojeda, Tulsi Gabbard, Kirsten Gillibrand, and Elizabeth Warren as major candidates who have declared or stated their intention of declaring soon. Then, there are 142 other people who have filed with the FEC to run for the Democratic nomination.

Add another 20 or so who have expressed interest publicly to run and they’re going to have to trade in the clown car for a clown bus.

My Take

Nobody is surprised by this. The Senator used the Brett Kavanaugh confirmation hearings as a platform to promote herself and her future campaign, which she almost certainly intended at that point. Now, it’s official.

She has a good chance despite national polls showing her lower than Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders, and a handful of other better-known Democrats. California has an early primary next year, meaning she has a chance of getting a huge boost in delegates from her home state if she can remain viable at that point.

Another thing to watch is President Obama. He’s spoken more kindly of Harris than just about any other potential candidate other than Biden. If Joe doesn’t run, the former President might throw his clout in her direction.